morning.
the title of this post is based on Jim Jones song Rain, youtube it pls. here's the chorus (again, pls excuse the "n" word etc etc):
Nigga we too close, can't stop praying noww,
tho it seems there's no end to this paaaain,
Everytime i close my eyes i pray for rain,
i pray for rain, to wash away this pain....
ok. so. before i heard this song, i was in no way a jim jones fan. did i do the little "BALLLLINNN" joint at parties...yes. would i have evvver bought his music or gone to see him perform, NOOOO.
but then, a really smart dude, Dr.Suddler to be exact, he educated me. He showed me that rap really is an art form. i had heard this my whole life, but really did not believe it. since my epiphany in march of this year, i have opened up to a lot more possibilities of this world.
i thot that Jim Jones was all about "balllinnn" and beef with JayZ. then i listened to this song. During my 12 hour plus drive back DOLO from Indiana, my world was opened up. lol, i just finished my law school exams/first year of last school (passed, PRAISE THE LORD, even after that brief dropping out, lol)...and Dr.Suddler really continued my education.
Doc made me this banging mixtape, and again, it was just eye opening. It's pretty much all i listened to that whole ride, bout 18 songs, only one of which i really dont like and skip. all the others, they are reallllyyyy saying something.
i'll probably post on some of the other songs eventually, but today, as i woke up to a downpour heree in VAAAAA (two up two down, chea chea. lol!!), i thot of this song.
pls go listen to it or buy it etc. if i had the dinero i'd buy it but not yet senor.
as i hope you see in the chorus, this song talks about the pain that many go through, but especially those in the hood. here's some homework if you've never spent much time in the hood...on a nice day, go walk just like 1.5 or 2 blocks n the hood...since it's summer time lots of ppl, adults and kids, will be outside on the porch etc...and i just want you to listen. walk fast if you're scared, but listen. you'll probably hear lots of laughter and joke cracking and song singing and see kids jumping rope or running up and down the streets together. now, if you were to examine these ppls income/bank statement/"savings" accts, many of them would probably be less than ideal, and some would be on public assistance etc. THAT IS MY OPINION, go head and comment if you are offended etc, but again, it's my opinion, on my blog soooo...yeah.
now, what i want you to take away from this informational walk through the hood is that many of these ppl keep their head up despite what society would deem a poverty stricken existence. why, bc many of them know better days will come, but also, that if they don't laugh, then they;ll be crying till Kingdom come.
this Jim Jones song further shows this point for me, bc he says ppl n the hood don't pray for sunny days because they KNOWW that after the rain, the sun will come out. (of course i'm paraphrasing). instead, many of them/us pray for rain to wash away the contsant barrage of pain that we deal with DAILY.
it's painful when your mom and/or/hopefullyyy dad cant provide for you. it's painful when you have holes in your clothes and cant afford new ones...it's painful when you see the rich congress men and women on tv talking about how much of a cancer YOUR community is to the country because you or your friends are on public assistance and get FREE lunch at school...it's painful when mothers "have" to say to their 14 year old sons "no you not going to high school, it's time for you to hit the corner/block"...all that ISH is painful as shit.
all that painful stuff i just mentioned, i havent gone through all of it, but i have at the very LEAST seen it all and more. IT"S REAL OUT HERE. that's why i said in an older post, kids in the hood not worried about the crazy stuff i decide to put on the internet...they worried about a life that seems over before it has even began.
living without hope. if you dont have hope, you have nothing.
therefore in the hood (and hoods have ppl of all races, creeds, color, ethnicity etc), ppl pray for rain to shake off the pains of everyday life, the pains that ppl outside of the hood can hardly imagine much less understand...
however, even ppl no longer in a hood, or that have never been in one, probably pray for rain, for the same reason. water from the sky is cleansing. it washes away lots of the trash in the streets, or the dog crap off the sidewalk in front of your houses, etc...ppl all over the world, pray for a cleansing of their souls...everyday.
so maybe we should stop teaching kids the little ditty "rain rain go away"...caus i dont want the rain to go away.
i deal with pain everyday. but somehow, someway, God always washes it away. maybe not as soon as IIII would like, but eventually, He removes it.
so when the rain changed everyone's plans or cancels a baseball game...i hope that im somewhere where i can smell it and listen and watch it. because it is beautiful...bc i know the sun will come out soon...once everything is nice and clean, and pristine...like it's suppose to be...and couldn't be, without the rain.
enjoy your rainy days. we wouldn;t appreciate the sunny ones without them.
theme for today: how much would your garden flourish without REGULAR downpours from the heavens....? (yeah i just made that up off top :) ...lol )
make the most of it man!
sincerely,
carlin
